RACHEL GRAHAM / WILDLIFE CONSERVATION SOCIETY Researchers, including some from the University of Hawaii, have discovered a new species of fish, a grouper that reaches more than 6 feet in length and can weigh nearly 1,000 pounds. This newly discovered species can be found roaming the tropical reefs of the Eastern Pacific Ocean, according to a genetic study in the journal Endangered Species Research.

Goliath intrigues UH scientists

Call it the super-grouper.

It's a huge reef fish that is not afraid of divers.

"They're really curious, and people diving for sport, for recreation, enjoy it because they can get great photos," says Matthew Craig, a University of Hawaii researcher who has studied the friendly giants.

But people diving with spear guns also can easily catch them for food or trophies, he said.

"People want to say they speared a giant fish."

As a result, the population nose-dived.

Now scientists are learning more about the fish -- information that might help protect them.

Craig was lead author of a genetic study reported in a recent issue of the journal Endangered Species Research that found the Pacific goliath is a different species from the identical-looking Atlantic goliath. That blew apart more than 100 years of scientific thought.

Researchers from the Wildlife Conservation Society, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, National Marine Fisheries Service and Projecto Meros do Brazil worked with UH scientists on the genetics of the groupers.

They were able to determine that the grouper found in the eastern tropical Pacific, Epinephelus quinquefasciatus, is a species distinct from the Atlantic species, E. itajara.

Once genetically identical, the groupers likely evolved into separate species after Central America divided the Pacific Ocean from the Atlantic about 3.5 million years ago, the scientists said.

The Atlantic species is listed as critically in danger of extinction by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, and the Pacific species also could be considered endangered because it is scarce, the researchers said.

"In light of our new findings, the Pacific goliath grouper should be treated with separate management and conservation strategies," said Rachel Graham, a co-author of the study.

In Hawaii, divers hoping to spear or photograph the 1,000-pound fish are out of luck.

It does not occur here, said Craig.

There is a local species known as the giant grouper that shares a common ancestor with the goliath grouper but it is rarely seen, said Craig, an ichthyologist at the Hawaii Institute of Marine Biology at Coconut Island.

That species, Epinephelus lanceolatus, is known to occur throughout the Indo-Pacific region and has been reported up to 8.6 feet in length and 660 pounds, he said.